So I'm in the middle of writing about Halo in our upcoming "Games That Defined the Xbox" piece. Obviously, Halo was a major player in making console FPSs mainstream. Many claim that it was the first to get FPS "right" on the consoles and possibly the first to get co-op/multiplayer right on the console as well.

However, I know many regard Goldeneye (and Perfect Dark after it) to hold similar clout.

Obviously, Halo became the massive franchise and became the more mainstream hit, but did Goldeneye get it right first? Or was it still pretty rough and Halo perfected it?

Goldeneye got it right, but not right like pc first person shooters did. It did it's own thing and did it well considering the controller. It was more about the gameplay features like the mission layouts and multiplayer that was special versus the controls which were an adjustment to the funky controller.

Halo mimicked the PC feel much better and is really the benchmark for what modern fps games followed.

BogusMeatFactory wrote:Goldeneye got it right, but not right like pc first person shooters did. It did it's own thing and did it well considering the controller. It was more about the gameplay features like the mission layouts and multiplayer that was special versus the controls which were an adjustment to the funky controller.

Halo mimicked the PC feel much better and is really the benchmark for what modern fps games followed.

So what worked better for the controller for Goldeneye? Did the N64 controller help, or was it more of a limitation? I really didn't spend a lot of time on the N64 -- partially because I didn't really like the controller.

Halo didn't require as much accuracy as most PC FPS, right? How would you compare the controls of Goldeneye vs Halo?

Goldeneye is deserving of a lot of praise for the FPS genre in general, not just on consoles.

That said, the system obviously did not have a dual analog setup, among other limitations of the controller.

Other FPS came along before dual analog (Dreamcast ports, for instance), and the PS2 had ports of Unreal Tournament and the like, plus new titles like Timesplitters.

Offhand, however, one thing Halo really did was expand on multiplayer support. Where most other console FPS games tended to cap out at four human players, Halo supported sixteen, allowing players to mix up split screen and networked consoles. What it didn't have were bots.Still, I think the ease that a multiplayer setup can be put together is a highlight of at least most of the series. Even compared to the majority console FPS today, the Halo games tend to be very flexible.

'course, they also have mostly had the option to play the campaign in co-op.

I say Goldeneye was first to do it "right." The lack of dual analogue was definitely a con, but the game managed to be extremely fun and playable both single player and multiplayer despite that. I think it's fair to call Halo the first true "modern" console FPS, but that's not to say that Goldeneye didn't get it right; it definitely did.

You can play it sorta dual-stick style with one of the control schemes. Movement on d-pad, aiming on analog stick. Works alright, but would be better if you had a crosshair on the screen when not in aiming mode.

Goldeneye is definitely the first to do it "right", but Halo smoothed things out considerably.

Curious side-question: would you say that Perfect Dark improved on any mechanics or multiplayer from Goldeneye?

I feel they did! Much more unique weapons that had multiple firing nodes, turrets, guns that could shoot through walls etc. Plus they had AI bots that were real threats or annoyances (PEACE SIM!!!!!) And it had a full co-op campaign.

I preferred the Turok default control scheme to the Goldeneye default control layout, and I still do. It's pretty close to dual analogue layout, only you aim with the left hand and move with the right instead of vice versa.

In the Turok game I've played at least (Rage Wars) the c buttons are back, forward and strafe left and right, and the analogue stick is aim.

In Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, the default layout is the stick moves forward and back and turns left and right, and the c buttons look up and down and strafe left and right. That's confusing to me, as each hand does a little bit each of aiming and moving. The Turok way is far more intuitive.